Truth Revealed
by LuminaWriting
Summary: A tragedy befalls Harry Potter at the MoM and all of his hatred and anger, his secrets and studies slowly come to light. Will Harry embrace his true house and use his cunning to finally set right the wrongs of the magical world? Or will he perhaps find allies in the most unexpected places? What will happen when he is reborn from the ashes to create a new world, a world of balance.
1. Fate Chosen

**A/N: Hello everyone and welcome to the rewritten first chapter of Truth Revealed! There haven't been many changes made but you might notice a few. Instead of taking forever to upload the edited chapters I think I'll just remove the old ones and then repost them instead. Chapter 2 is on it's way as well though chapters 3 and 4 might take a while. They're giving me a bit of trouble. Sorry for the wait!**

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><p><em>Chapter 1: Fate Chosen<em>

Harry chased after her as quickly as he could, his feet slipping over the polished and slippery stones that made up the Ministry's Atrium. Her voice echoed through the empty space, tormenting him constantly with the death of the only family he had left.

"I killed Sirius Black!" Her deranged laughter quickly followed as she spun around on the floor, obviously not the slightest bit worried about Harry chasing after her or the legal repercussions that would follow suit when she was caught; _if_ she was caught. Oh, whom was he kidding? The Ministry was completely incompetent...

Her jeers and taunts only caused him to see the image of his godfather falling through the Veil flash through his mind faster, a roar of anger escaping him as he closed in on her, his anger burning with a desire he had only ever felt in small amounts. It had happened before he even realised what he was doing, but her screams were music to his ears.

"_Crucio_."

Much to his surprise his voice had been soft, nearly uttering the unforgivable curse instead of shouting it like his mind had been willing him to do. Her screams were immensely satisfying, though nothing about the way she trashed on the floor truly made up for the lives lost to her wand.

After what was only a few seconds but felt like much longer he broke off the curse, vaguely aware of the lack of supervision he was under and the feeling it gave him — it was exhilarating. Finally there was no one to look over his shoulder and tap him on the fingers the moment he read about dark spells or the unforgivables. How did they expect him to fight the Dark Lord and his minions if he didn't know anything about dark spells? How did they think he could defend himself against the unknown?

He had scoffed at it then and he would scoff at it now. He focussed again when he noticed his mind was wandering and saw Bellatrix slowly sit up and pout at him, now if that wasn't a strange sight he didn't know what was.

"Itty bitty Potty throwing around dark curses, your parents must be so proud, Potter." He knew full well she was taunting him but he also noticed that she had felt the pain; the curse had worked. Her eyes were diluted and she was smirking widely, showing off her insanity as it were. Having gained such a reaction to pain, as if on a high, now there was something curious. Curious indeed.

He could also see the very subtle movements she made, edging towards the fireplace. She was going to try and escape, emphasis on _try_. His senses were on fire due to the use of the curse, the _power_ that had flowed through him, and it had made him quite sensitive to his surroundings.

"Now Bella, where do you think you're going?" He asked in a condescending manner, smirking as he noted her surprise. "The party just barely started. Won't you stick around– petrificus totalus!" He shot the spell at her before she had the time to dodge and found herself frozen instantly, unable to move, as the Latin incantation suggested.

It was then that he felt it, a rush of energy similar to the one he had felt when casting the cruciatus curse but this time outside of his body, like a gust of wind brushing by. He felt his voice more than he heard it.

"Think of what she has done Harry. She doesn't deserve to live. You know the spell," His voice seemed to echo around Harry's mind, sending a shudder down his spine that had Voldemort chuckling, though surely he thought it was out of fear, rather than a very morbid sense of enjoyment. Harry had little doubt his eyes were as diluted as Bellatrix' were.

Still, he forced himself to calm down. Bellatrix would not be going anywhere without the petrification lifted despite the fact she was still very much conscious.

"Hello Tom," He said calmly, though he still felt his blood and magic thrum through his body at high speed. Naturally, greeting the Dark Lord with his former name caused a scowl on his snake-like face, although Harry could not see it. He remained with his back turned towards the Dark Lord despite the knowledge that any other would have used that position to run for the hills.

"I wonder, why is it you seem so ready to give up one of your best Death Eaters to me? I was under the impression she was one of the most faithful, and yet you are willing to let her die tonight... Why?"

This brought out a chuckle from the other, stepping closer to the boy wonder that had managed to escape him and survive time and time again.

"Because, Harry, there is so much more that I could offer you. Much more than those fools of the light,"

Harry scoffed; honestly, what did Voldemort think he was, a fool?

"Of course you could, there's no doubt about that. I do have a few questions for you, actually," He said, now turning to face the snake-faced lord.

"However I would appreciate it if we were given the chance to chat without the guise of a battlefield or the risk of being killed at any instant during the conversation, don't you?" He smirked a little; knowing the prospect of information might intrigue the Dark Lord enough to accept and Harry had no qualms whatsoever about releasing a few juicy titbits about the Order in the process. Voldemort raised a non-existent eyebrow at the proposal.

"A parley, how unexpected of you, Harry. Surely your guardians of the Light will disapprove." He returned, a small smirk of his own, sensing a very open change in the boy, something he had never noticed quite so prominently before.

"Is it really so unexpected I want to get some answers, Voldemort?" He asked, relaxing his stance although he was still very much on guard.

"They have no say over my actions, only Sirius ever did, being my legal guardian and all that." He glared in the direction of the door he had exited, knowing the rest of the 'light' was still fighting down there and he held no real love for most of them.

"Well then," Voldemort said, stepping closer. "I do believe it is time for our departure, unless we desire to be apprehended by _undesired parties_?" Harry simply nodded and stepped towards Bellatrix.

"I want her where I can keep an eye on her." He said blatantly, not even giving a damn about the fact he was basically ordering around the Dark Lord and most feared man of the Isles.

Voldemort, to his surprise, simply nodded and released her from the binding before ordering her to headquarters and to stay there. The way she smirked and bowed to him before disappearing made it obvious she did not expect repercussions. Harry was going to have to amend that misconception soon.

"Ah, now you don't think I would be leaving with you without having you swear a wizard's oath first, did you? Naturally, I will do the same. I'll even start," He almost purred out the last bit of his phrase, smirking at the impressed lord. It was obvious he had expected Harry to be more Gryffindor about this.

"I, Harry James Potter, do hereby swear upon my magic not to intentionally cause harm to one Tom Marvolo Riddle and his Death Eaters for the duration of our parley, unless provoked. So mote it be." He smirked broadly at the other, feeling quite smug with that. Harry was careful to leave open the chance to discuss titbits about their encounter with others, though he would never use this opportunity to reveal information to Dumbledore. The oath would not help occlude his mind if he tried. For now, all he had secured was safety during the parley, but that was all he needed.

"So mote it be." Voldemort finished, inclining his head before swearing the same oath and grabbing Harry's shoulder, apparating away just in time to escape that meddling old fool, Dumbledore.

Harry had caught a glimpse of the headmaster's arrival so he knew the necessity to get away, not to mention the Dark Lord had vowed on his safety so there was no reason to dawdle. When they arrived he found himself in an elegant study of dampened greens and silvers, though the occasional dark blue made its entrance as well. Despite having no idea where he was and having no way out he was hardly bothered and instead seated himself in one of the chairs by the desk, obviously leaving the main one to Voldemort. May the festivities begin.

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><p>Back at the Atrium, Albus Dumbledore stared in shock at what he had just seen, although he could barely believe it. Tom Riddle had just stood there in what had looked to be the last glimpse of a friendly chat before he had grabbed Harry's shoulder and apparated away. What was more puzzling to the old wizard was that Harry had not struggled; on the contrary, he had seemed completely willing to come along with the murderer of his parents.<p>

This was definitely not good, nor was it what he had planned. How long had Harry been talking to Tom? Dumbledore was very aware of the similarities between the two and that Harry might as well have been a Slytherin, had it not been for his intervention. He could not— would not have the hope and beacon for the light turn dark. No, not at all. He would need to come up with a ruse for Harry's disappearance for now...

Harry being captured would make sense; Tom always did like to gloat, though he had been subtle about it in the past, far subtler than he was now. Naturally, everyone would fear for Harry's life but it was necessary for the greater good. He could not have that boy abandoning them for whatever reason it was now. He would need to find the boy, get the information from him and obliviate him; lest Harry were to tell them he had come with Tom willingly.

No, that would not go down well at all. He sighed, heading down to the Department of Mysteries to quickly and swiftly to get his people out of there, at least the children. The Order would deal with the Minister and get him to finally believe the Dark Lord was back; the captured death eaters would go a long way in helping them convince Fudge of that fact. He was such a fool for not believing Dumbledore when the man had told him, such a fool indeed. Ah, but he had his uses— for now.

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><p>Meanwhile at Riddle manor, Harry and Tom were making themselves comfortable with tea and a few snacks brought by the house-elves. After a quick scan that proved no potions or spells were used on the drink he took a sip.<p>

"I must say, I was quite intrigued by your proposal, Harry. So unexpected indeed." The Dark Lord smirked, finding it very amusing to be sitting here, having a conversation with the Light's precious poster boy.

"Ah, but how else am I supposed to get some answers around here? After all, Dumbledore enjoys keeping people in the dark. If that's what he wants, that's where I'll go." He was smirking as well now. He could not deny the irony, or the adrenaline it caused, but why not chat with his enemy? He might just finally understand why all of this was happening to him.

Tom laughed at the statement. "Harry, Harry; what an interesting perception you've adopted indeed." He leaned back in his chair, setting his cup down. "Well then, be my guest, ask away," He would make sure the Potter boy would be unable to sprout any of this back to Dumbledore if this was a ploy to get information. Something told him it wasn't though. The old coot would never let his precious golden boy so far out of sight...

Harry simply nodded in acknowledgement before leaning forward. "Why did you attack my parents and I that night? The prophecy wasn't self-fulfilling. Honestly, I doubt I would have ever tried to kill you had I not been orphaned and put into this situation." Voldemort raised a missing brow at that.

"You know the full prophecy?" He asked, curious. Harry smirked. "Yes, but they don't know that and the prophecy was smashed in the ministry." With a small encouragement from Voldemort, Harry recited the prophecy and rested against his chair. "Why is it that the most powerful Dark Lord in this time goes after a mere baby and ends up as a wraith?"

Tom gained a thoughtful look and closed his eyes for a small moment, going over the information. It would have been useful to have known this beforehand.

"Ah, but does the prophecy still not state we must kill one another."

Harry shook his head. "I haven't had much time to think about it yet either but I don't think that's a must. Either way the prophecy is trying to cut away our free choice, while usually it is a directory of future struggles that must come to pass, right? Which means that probably at least part of the prophecy is fake, or we can negate it completely,"

Tom thought on that for a moment. Harry was turning out to be quite smart and even rather (dare he think it?) Slytherin.

"Neither can live while the other survives... Tell me your theory then," He said, making Harry feel unsatisfied with the information being played about; then again, this would most likely save his life.

"This is negated if we stop working against each other. I don't want to fight you. Honestly, the Ministry is a joke and for the best magic school in Europe, Hogwarts is remarkably lacking. The magical world needs something to shake things up and make them right. However, your little pureblood propaganda isn't quite going to be the solution. We are in a minority already."

Voldemort was silent for a moment before his cold laughter echoed around the room, sending a bit of a shiver down Harry's spine.

"Has the Gryffindor Golden Boy finally gone dark? What a precious moment indeed," He chuckled softly, smirking in almost a predatory way at the boy.

"Ah, but you misunderstand Tom, I've simply shed my skin." He smirked right back at the Dark Lord, actually finding the moment just as ironic as Voldemort did. After a small moment they grew serious again.

"You are willing to actually work beside me to conquer the magical community and improve it? I must say it is unexpected, but it will leave the light at a great disadvantage,"

Harry nodded, fully aware of that. "I want to learn, and not only what Dumbledore or the Ministry deems _appropriate_. There should be a way to cherish all magical blood and still reinforce blood purity. Then again, who's to say Muggleborns don't come from long lines of squibs? I doubt marrying your own family is going to do much good for keeping the old lines alive. Instead, you could actually give muggleborns an early introduction to magic so they are not completely clueless, give them a place in our world so that they are not ostracized and they will actually want to stay in the wizarding world, instead of leaving because of the way they are treated, thus endangering our secret."

Voldemort had to admit the boy had a point, but his followers would hardly be open to the idea, although something could surely be done. A little bit of adjusting to his plans would hardly matter in the grand scheme of things if he could fight more easily against the light. Harry's outside opinion might just be a very useful trump card indeed.

"Very well, we shall see. For now, I believe it is time to begin forming a plan of action." He set his cup down and focussed on what could be accomplished. As he had thought earlier, Harry could be very useful, if monitored properly. The boy was still a Gryffindor and a liability for now. "What are your intentions now?"

Harry took another sip of his tea before setting the cup down as well. "Simple, I'll be your agent within Hogwarts. I have better access to the students than Snape does and being the 'Golden Boy' gives me access to the Light and the Order of the Phoenix," He sneered briefly at the blasted nickname. "Anyway, I do believe we can form an accord and get something going. I'll have plenty to arrange behind Dumbledore's back anyway, considering I'll probably be in Sirius' will."

Voldemort raised a curious brow at that. "And you believe the old man will not tell you?" Harry scoffed yet again. "Since when does Dumbledore share information? No, he was even trying to keep me clueless about my own heritage. It's only because I had access to the Black library via Sirius that I even know about it," He glared at the wall before finding, much to his surprise, that Voldemort looked just as furious.

"The old man has some nerve denying any child their legacy." Voldemort growled out before smirking a little. "Ah, I do believe some of my Death Eaters will be more willing to accept you, would they know of this injustice." Harry simply, nodded, still pissed off.

"Oh, I think in that case they'll love to hear all about the fact that Dumbledore dumped me with magic-hating muggles my entire life. I didn't even know anything about magic until I turned eleven," He made it a point to glare at the wall because he was too furious to do much more at the moment, sarcasm ringing through his clipped words. He still had a lot of pent-up rage from that.

Tom inclined his head, knowing many pureblood families would be outraged about what had been done to the boy by the light, which would only give incentive for his follower base to grow, especially were it adapted to the benefit of muggleborns. With Harry there, they would easily draw them in and outnumber the light. Yes, this would work out marvellously indeed.

Harry took a breath and snapped out of his anger for now. "So, we've concluded what I can do for you… What will I be getting in return?"


	2. Paths Formed

**A/N: Hey guys and welcome to the rewritten Chapter 2 of Truth Revealed! I'd like to thank everyone for their past and future reviews in advance since I did get so many for the former version of this story. Some of you may be disappointed but I'm trying to edge more towards a semi-grey Harry rather than a full-on Dark one. It's easier for me to write that way and it opens a few more doors than I would have otherwise.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 2 - Paths Formed<p>

The feeling of being put through a suffocating tube ended within seconds and he found himself standing outside of the Hogwarts wards, before another pop resonated around him and his transporter vanished back to headquarters. He took a deep breath and crossed the wards, heading for the castle that he would always consider his home. It was during his walk that he composed his mind and focussed on what lies to tell the professors and the headmaster.

He knew Dumbledore had spotted him coming with Tom willingly so there would be a fair amount of trouble with that. If things were too far against him he could claim obliviation, but perhaps the best course of action was to state he had been under the influence of the imperius. Not remembering anything was too convenient but the wounds Voldemort had oh-so-graciously given him after they formed the plan of his return would give him some credibility at least.

He could only hope that the Order would buy his little ruse and leave him be. He would then become convinced he needed to study more and learn to fight so he could defend himself against Voldemort. That free time was essential.

He would need any and every excuse he could come up with to distance himself from his friends temporarily and let his Slytherin side flourish; it was about time he let it out to play. If they learned he was just as much a lion as he was a 'slimy snake' and they would refuse to accept him as he was, then he would have no use for them. Hermione might follow suit if she learned of his plans and the progress he intended to have in the Dark Order.

He had little doubt Luna already knew what he was up to and had also already made her decision; Neville would be more open to the idea if he found he could do what he wanted with Bellatrix and hopefully the twins would have enough Slytherin in them to accept his offer. He knew those two were far from being as obnoxious as their younger brother was and there was a big chance the two would ally themselves with Harry; they were loyal to a fault.

He discarded the thoughts of followers and other plans when he neared the gate to find the professors Dumbledore and McGonagall waiting for him there. Ah, there had most likely been a proximity ward set on the grounds, keyed to Harry in order to alert them of his arrival. He made sure to look confused and frightened as he rushed at them.

"Professors! Thank goodness you're here! I was so worried..." He gasped for air from his run and made an effort to stay upright. The splotches of blood on his clothes from the curses Voldemort cast at him did make it a little difficult to focus, but the cruciatus had been the worst to deal with. That man's cruciatus was painful as _hell._

"I'm so sorry for running off professor, I shouldn't have. But she just made me so angry… I couldn't help but chase after Bellatrix after she... She–" He cut himself off and took a deep breath, wincing a little at the reminder of his godfather. As much as he was faking this performance, he did love Sirius and could hardly believe he was gone now; it didn't seem real.

"You know… I tried to curse her, to keep her from getting away but then something passed through the atrium. I think it was Voldemort professor. Then some sort of haze came over me, like… Like I wasn't in danger anymore..."

Dumbledore playing the benevolent grandfather figure as always hurriedly stepped in and hushed his little weapon.

"Don't think about that just yet Harry. We will need explanations of course but you should heal first, Madam Pomphrey will have you healed up in no time at all."

Upon arriving in said hospital wing, Harry was bombarded by multiple voices, coming from several beds. He tried to ignore the headache the sudden racket brought him, but thank Merlin for Pomphrey, who silenced his friends and tended to him before allowing him to order and answer their and the headmaster's questions. Madam Pomphrey was rather surprised to find traces of the cruciatus curse in his system, which was rather efficient at shutting everyone up.

Once Harry had been patched up he sighed and rubbed his temples, deciding it was time to deal with this; he would need to sooner or later anyway.

"Okay, one at a time guys, please..." After a few nods and mumbles from everyone, Hermione instantly fell into her questioning mode.

"What happened Harry? You ran after Bellatrix but no one saw you after that." Neville had begun scowling as soon as he heard the dark witch's name. Dumbledore on the other hand intently leaned forward, just as curious about what had happened to Harry as the others, especially since what Harry had described sounded like the imperius curse.

"Well, you know I chased after Bellatrix… I caught her in the atrium and I was about to curse her when Voldemort came… I don't know why but he seemed like he wanted me to kill her… When I refused I felt something like a calming veil pass over me. I tried to fight it but his magic is so strong… That was the imperius, wasn't it professor?"

Harry looked up, trying to look as lost as he could without it being suspicious but since he was known as a bit of an angsty teenager, he figured he would be fine.

"Yes it was my boy. However I believe we were all under the impression you were able to fight off that particular bit of dark magic." It seemed Dumbledore refused to believe him, but really how can you expect a fifteen-year-old boy to overpower a dark lord?

"That was different… Professor M- I mean Crouch's Imperio was less strong, less convincing than Voldemort's. Besides, we knew he was casting it in class… It's different when you know it's coming. He took me by surprise sir, is it really so surprising I didn't manage to fight it?"

Dumbledore finally sighed and shook his head, seemingly giving in to Harry's logic. "I suppose not, my boy. But what happened after he took you away?"

"He WHAT?" Ginny's voice suddenly sprang up and Dumbledore rushed to inform them he hadn't wanted to worry them and that he would have told them if Harry had not been back soon. Once they relented, Harry continued with his story.

"Voldemort took me to his dungeons because he knew I had the prophecy before it broke. He thought I heard it but I didn't get the chance to… I didn't even know what it said, but he still tried to get the information out of me. After he figured out I didn't know anything, he dumped me outside of the wards at Hogwarts. He said something about retrieving the prophecy later… Maybe he'll try to capture me after we figure out what the prophecy is, but that's impossible. The prophecy broke right in front of out eyes."

He seemed to curl up in worry and his thoughts as everyone else pondered his words. If Voldemort wanted the prophecy so badly, it was very likely that he would fetch Harry again later, especially if the boy was unable to fight the Dark Lord's imperius. Upon Pomphrey's insistence the professors left to let the children rest. Harry's wounds were already healing spectacularly but as long as he took it easy and got enough rest, he would be allowed to leave in an hour or two.

Once she did let him leave, he began wandering the halls, left alone with his thoughts and memories and plans. He actually found himself wondering how he had managed to ignore the pain until now, because the loss of his godfather had hit hard and he intended to make Bellatrix scream for what she had done, albeit indirectly. It was the Veil that had killed Sirius, yet Bella had pushed him in. Ah well, it was all the same.

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><p>The school was relaxingly calm and void of students this morning, most likely they were attending their classes, which was the perfect opportunity for Harry to wander around and search for a base of operations. He would need one to make his 'office' in and draft his plans. He couldn't do so in Gryffindor tower after all, lest he wished to have the others read over them and proclaim him a traitor and Dark. That would effectively cut off the Light base he intended to recruit for his plans.<p>

It was finally on the sixth floor that he found an old tapestry barring a room that would most likely work out. The down side was that the tapestry did not fancy allowing Harry in, as it was Dumbledore whom had ordered its lockdown, along with most other secret rooms and passages. That simply made Harry even more curious as to what lay behind the door and he began a small debate with the lock of his new rooms. He needed to find a way around Dumbledore's orders!

It was then that he noticed a small, embroidered snake on the bottom of the tapestry and smirked, a finger trailing over it. He wondered if there were more of these along the paintings and tapestries of the castle.

"**Hello little one."** He whispered to it, startling the human figure in the tapestry by about seven different shades of skin colour and drawing out a small hiss from the serpent that could easily be compared to a purr.

"**Master?"** It asked softly in return, as all the Hogwarts serpents had been designed by Slytherin and his ancestors to recognise the speakers as their masters.

"**Yes. I need to enter these chambers but the headmaster blocks me, how do I pass?" **When ignorant, just ask. He knew there was no shame in doing so and being friendly with the snakelings would help him a long way in having his own network of information.

The downside was the portraits, which in turn reported to Dumbledore. Hm, perhaps he could convince them to let his actions slip their minds, a way to change the balance of power the headmaster currently held.

"**The masters of founder's blood may always pass where the school master refuses."** The young snake hissed, causing a smirk on Harry's face.

"**Thank you, you have helped me well today. Tell your brothers and sisters I will call upon them soon. The headmaster shall no longer control us." **

With that he gave the serpent one last caress before straightening and speaking to the tapestry with words that he had not expected to come to him so easily. "By founder's blood of Salazar Slytherin I command, open these chambers to me." This gave the tapestry no choice but to bow to Harry's wishes, breaking the headmaster's magic, and after setting a password, Harry entered.

The room was, as he had suspected, perfect for his purposes. Not only was it in a rather unused wing of the castle, thus leaving him to come and go as he pleased, but he had also discovered a way to spy throughout the castle. Keeping an eye inside the Slytherin common room would become a piece of cake at this rate. Once seated at the desk that was conveniently placed to face the door, he started taking inventory of the room.

It was rectangular, and an intricate wooden desk sat at the far end of the room. Slytherin colours represented the main colour theme but considering his plans, he's have to adopt the Hogwarts crest in here, although he rather enjoyed the muted colours. Deciding to start with a simple colour charm he changed the thick carpet into obsidian blue and changed the large Slytherin crest behind the desk into the Hogwarts crest, placing smaller Gryffindor and Hufflepuff crests on one side of the wall and Slytherin and Ravenclaw crests on the other.

Slytherin and Gryffindor were placed closest to him in a subtle hint to his sorting. The place was covered with shelves and very old books as well. Upon closer inspection he found the ones near the desk to be warded and containing books in parsle script. The other warded ones were of powerful magic that should not be attempted but were good to know of.

The rest contained multiple dark arts books and a few other special magic tomes that had not found their way into the school's vast library. Then again, he doubted some of these would be placed anywhere _near_ the students for public use, not even the restricted section.

With everything going on he much rather wanted to start working up drafts for his ideas and look up anything he could find on the Dark Order, the way it was meant to be, rather than think about Sirius, but he knew he would need to grieve for the loss eventually. Deciding on the easiest way to express his feelings he summoned an empty roll of parchment, a quill and some ink before beginning to write. He poured out the pain he felt when he saw Sirius die, his burning rage towards Bellatrix and his growing distrust for the Order of the Phoenix. Simply because magic was light, it did not make it good. Sirius had been killed with a simple stupefy in the end, after all.

He found himself writing down far more than only his feelings on Sirius' death, but also his discussion with Voldemort and everything else his thoughts skimmed over, all the injustices done to him. It was through this that his mind cleared and he became able to plan more carefully, though he incinerated the parchment as soon as he was done. It wouldn't do to leave such important information lying about. First things first, he needed data on Tom's old plans.

Harry spent several hours in the library under his invisibility cloak looking for anything about Voldemort's plans and old propaganda. There was no way his entire regimen had spread by word of mouth and he needed that information to keep the core goals and adapt the loose ends to match his ideas for the wizarding world. Together they could accomplish great things as Voldemort had once said and under his tutelage Harry's power would grow. It wasn't that he was power hungry; he just hated being controlled.

"Oh why couldn't they just put all of this in one bloody file?" He groaned under his breath as he returned to his office. Looking at the papers before him, realisation slowly dawned. Why leave around precious information lying around where Dumbledore could get his claws on it? The Slytherin common room would be the idea place to hide a memorandum of sorts with the information he needed.

He smirked and sat up straighter, banishing a few books back to their shelves so that his desk was returned to a semblance of order before he called Dobby to his office. After having been explained in serious detail what to do, the elf vanished, returning ten minutes later with the files he had been looking for. People really underestimated the use of house-elves. He also had the eager to please elf ward his location against unauthorised intruders, it was everything short of the fidelius charm and he was proud.

The very next day his friends were released from the hospital and flocked around him like bees to flowers and Merlin was it annoying. He realised they wanted to make him feel better about… About what happened, but hounding him and trying to keep him from having even the smallest amount of time to himself was not going to accomplish that. Not to mention that he needed to see whom he could trust closest to him. Only then could he begin to branch out and the end of the year was nearing…


	3. Building a Faction

**A/N: Hey guys and welcome to the Rewritten version of Chapter 3! Rewriting this chapter especially gave me a lot of trouble since it was the chapter with the most changes but hopefully that'll all work out well. Chapter 4 will be coming next! Please be patient with me. **

**Twinspeak:**_  
>Fred<em>  
>George<br>**Both**

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><p>Chapter 3 – Building a Faction<p>

It was an afternoon in the common room several days later when Harry's patience finally ran out. Hermione was rattling at him about some book or other and Ron was whining at him to go play chess or Quiddich outside as the weather was so fine. Their incessant talking only pushed him further and further until he abruptly stood up and glared at both of them.

"Enough. I refuse to spend the rest of my time here stuck between studying whenever I'm told to or being dragged out to play Quiddich when I don't even know where Umbitch locked my broom. So leave me alone already!" He used their shock to quickly stalk away from his two best friends. He had better things to do than play around like he used to… Harry had chosen a side now and this one was not a side where you could take your time and dilly-dally or play around. Not to mention his entire position was precarious to say the least.

He needed to find a way to talk to his friends and figure out their loyalty to him, without letting them find out that his currently lie with the Dark Lord of Britain. A meeting would be preferable but he knew at least half his friends would dismiss him out of hand and then proceed to rat him out to Dumbledore if he said he had joined the Dark Lord. He wasn't going to get marked like cattle though; after all, wan't he proclaimed the Dark Lord's equal? Well then, no Dark Mark for him.

So, a meeting with his friends without letting them know whom he has sided with, but to see if they agree wit the ideals he intends to spread. No more Light and Dark, just magic. This could work, if he planned this correctly…

* * *

><p>The next morning his friends all found a note on their bedside containing a date and time for a meeting, right after breakfast. Harry had Dobby deliver the message during the night so they wouldn't have the time to question him. Instead Harry spent the night in his office and moved to the Room of Requirement to get things ready for the meeting. In a little bit of a play, he found the room larger but similar to his office.<p>

Instead of a desk at the end of the room, there was a very comfortable looking chair in Slytherin colours, the Hogwarts crest behind him. Soft seats in house colours were placed in a crescent around his own, each matching the houses his companions came from. On the walls, the four crests of the houses were proudly displayed, Gryffindor and Slytherin closest to him just like in his office. One could only wonder when someone was going to figure it out. Most likely the Slytherins would first, once he made contact with them… Best focus on the task at hand though.

A clock struck one and the door to the room opened, allowing his friends to trickle in and look around. They were all used to the DA settings of the room, as it was the one they always required, but now he had the chance to turn it into something new. Luna was the first to step forward and gave him a far too knowing smile as she settled on the blue chair. Finally everyone else came in as well and settled down on their house seats.

"Welcome, sit down all of you." He said, picking up a quill and a piece of parchment from beside him as he turned to them. "I'm sure you're all very curious about why I called you here but first, if you would all sign this parchment…" The parchment and pen floated to Luna and went down the circle. Hermione took longer than the others as she read the parchment first, something Neville did as well to Harry's surprise. Once everyone had signed Harry finally relaxed and leaned back in his chair.

"Thanks, that will make everything so much easier. Now I could go ahead and take my time with long speeches but I don't really feel like it so I'll keep this as to the point as possible." He watched the various reactions of interest and singled out Ron as a probable problem followed by Ginny who looked antsier than anything else.

"After what happened at the Ministry, but even before that I've been thinking about the magical world and how backwards everything is. I don't really mind the entire 'living in the dark ages' bit though we could really use an upgrade from quills…" He shook his head, quickly getting back on topic.

"My biggest problem with our world is all this prejudice against muggleborns and magical creatures, Dark or other. Now, what if I told you we could do something to make the wizarding world better? To take away the prejudice?"

The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Luna was the first to react, sitting forward a little.  
>"That sounds like a great idea Harry."<p>

The others nodded along, agreeing that prejudice was bad, but they had no idea how to remove it. Then again, Harry knew several of them were quite prejudiced already, just not towards muggleborns. He would need to get them to understand that it wasn't okay to judge people before you knew them no matter what. If he could accomplish the same with the pureblood factions on Voldemort's side concerning muggleborns then his life would get so much easier.

For now though…

"I've gained the help of a source to aid us in making that dream a reality. Before you ask, that source isn't Dumbledore. From what I gather, the headmaster wants to unite the magical and muggle worlds, exposing us after all these centuries." He didn't get to continue when Hermione leaned forward and spoke up.

"But Harry, there's nothing wrong with that. There are a lot of muggleborns who want to tell their families about magic but simply can't because of the Statue of Secrecy."

"On the contrary. What do you think will happen on a wider scale? Scientists and armies and nations… They would get curious about us, about what we can do. They would capture a number of us and experiment to find out how magic works and how they can harvest it. They'd try and figure out what triggers the magic in a person's DNA and so on. It wouldn't be like the witch hunts back in the dark ages, it would be worse."

She was left to ponder that as the pureblooded of their group looked on in total confusion and Harry quickly explained. "Muggle scientists are a bit like the Unspeakables. They study old enchantments and figure out how stuff works and then use it to benefit our society right?" He continued after a few nods.

"Well, muggle scientists do the same, but on a different scale. They don't have magic to help them, so they try and figure out things in a different way. I'm not going to explain DNA and molecular structure so look that up in your own time though." He leaned back against his seat, satisfied that everyone was paying attention. Hermione was starting to realise just how right Harry was, if the dawning look of horror on her face was anything to go by.

"I think we've established that exposing ourselves to the muggles would not only affect us on a personal scale but on a nation- or world wide scale as well. Now, just to be clear, I'm not one for blood purity at all. It's a stupid idea and when it comes down to it, there's not even such a thing as muggleborns." He quickly held his hand up to keep anyone from protesting. "Let me explain."

"It makes little sense for magic to surface in children who have no connection whatsoever to magic. Such a random selection would be weird. On the other hand we know a lot of squibs are cast out from pureblood families and go into the muggle world to lead their lives there. Magic attracts magic and they marry other squibs. What you end up with is a long line of squibs where the magic has a chance to regenerate itself until finally, you have a muggleborn, who in most cases would be a pureblood or at least a halfblood from several old lines."

He smiled when he saw everyone thinking on that, though Ginny seemed distracted with staring at Harry and Ron looked a bit confused, like that was impossible just because he'd been told otherwise.

"But Dumbledore never said—"

"What Dumbledore did or didn't say is inconsequential Ron. Just because he hasn't said it doesn't mean it isn't true. He isn't Merlin incarnated for Godric's sake." He was nearly tempted to say for 'Salazar's sake' but that would ruffle too many feathers too soon. He was almost surprised no one had commented on the scenery yet.

"If my theories are right, a lot of power is going to shift in the ministry and the Wizengamot if it is found that several really old families live through what we called muggleborns until now. Instead we should see them as first generation witches and wizards. Giving them a more positive view in society will definitely bring new blood to the still remaining lines and will revive old ones."

"Not to mention that those first generation witches and wizards would have spots on the Wizengamot they didn't know they had. It would mean a power shift to those in the political world who exposed the muggleborns as what they truly are and gave them a place in society. It would give us their loyalty, something very important in this day and age."

He paused, letting the information sink in for a while. Ginny now really looked like she wasn't listening and Ron still seemed confused. It wouldn't be long before something was said that made Ron blow a casket, but as much as he liked the redhead in the past, he had to make choices now and the politically important ones were the ones he needed. Bringing Light families into the Grey spectrum would be a good advancement at least. No one would feel threatened that way either.

"Harry, do you think there's a way I could find out if what you're saying is true?"

He smiled and nodded, glad she finally asked. When she found out she was indeed related to purebloods the word would spread through Hogwarts like wildfire.

"Yeah of course, just send a letter to Gringotts and they'll set something up for you. They do blood tests for a small fee all the time. The reason no one really found out about the muggleborns was because no one told them they could get checked. Who knows, you might have a vault somewhere after all."

She grinned and quickly began writing down some notes in order to send a proper letter later. it wasn't until then that the Twins spoke up.

_"But Harry,"_  
>"For all of this to actually happen,"<br>_"You'd need some pretty solid support."_  
><strong>"Who's helping you?"<strong>

He simply smiled and shook his head. "He would like to remain anonymous for now but I'm sure you'll meet him in the future. That is, if you're willing to support us? Let me just say this now, this won't be a purely Light gathering. We're recruiting everyone, meaning protection for the Light, Grey and Dark forces. Not everyone wants to fight and gathering everyone into one agreeing faction will eliminate the conflict on it's own. After that it'll only be a one on one between Dumbledore and Voldemort."

He could see Ron wanting to protest against letting anyone Dark into 'their' faction but someone else cut him to the chase, though not on the same topic.

"What about the prophecy Harry?"

This time it was Luna speaking and he could see she only brought it up for everyone else's benefit.

"The way I see if I already did vanquish the dark lord when I was a baby so the prophecy is invalid. I don't want to fight anyway, it's not right an entire nation should be using a teenager as their shield." That always did strike a nerve with him and as he grumbled silently he spotted Ginny looking at him a bit oddly. When he raised a brow at her she simply huffed. What the hell was up with that?

"Thank you Harry."

"Well, that should be all… If you're looking for me, I'm resident on the sixth floor behind the tapestry of a rather round bard. The tapestry has a black serpent on the bottom. Just say 'Hogwarts' Cause' and you'll be let in. I'm going to be working on how to recruit everyone during the summer so we can branch out through the four houses. I'll need your help for that. I'll let you know what's going on through the mail."

With that everyone began getting up and leaving. Next year was bound to become interesting.

The summer was only a few days away though, and so was his meeting with Voldemort's inner circle.

He could only hope he wasn't going to be eaten alive...


	4. Summer Break, Or Is It?

**A/N: Hello everyone and welcome to Chapter 4 - Rewritten! I haven't made too many changes aside from the mishap with Ron being fixed and edited out of here. Updates are likely to be slow because my inspiration is mostly set on Hollow Inside but I'll try to work on Truth Revealed frequently enough. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 4: Summer Break, Or Is It?<p>

"My loyal friends," He looked down upon the assembled group that was his inner circle. It was vital no others learned of what was going to be happening lest they be betrayed and his entire inner circle had his trust, which was not easily gained. "Our raid on the Ministry has bared more fruit than we anticipated. I now am in possession of the full prophecy, and have gained a new ally for our cause."

He saw them mumble excitedly, curious as to whom this new ally could be. Only Bellatrix seemed to be in an unnaturally sour mood, probably because of the sacrifice he had made her into. Ah well, she could be salvaged, if Harry would allow it; she was, after all, his most devoted follower.

"The prophecy," He began, silencing his companions,

"Has been declared void by both involved parties, after Mr Potter and I had a lengthy chat." Once again mumbling arose, as never before the two had been seen in each other's presence without curses flying, let alone have a 'lengthy chat'. Voldemort silenced them once more, his mood growing sourer with each interruption.

"Potter has, in a way, seen the 'light' and agreed to a truce with the Death Eaters. He shall not be harmed without my personal permission, and will be working to build a better world alongside us." His followers shared glances but it was Lucius who finally dared break the silence.

"But, my Lord, Potter would never concede to work against muggles or mudbloods." The blond bowed his head more deeply, hoping not to get cursed for speaking his mind. It was well known throughout the ranks that their lord was rather mentally unstable and curse-happy since his return.

Voldemort simply inclined his head, attesting to that statement and surprising everyone with the lack of cruciatus curses going around.

"This is why Potter is currently researching the plans that were made at the very beginning, my own time within Hogwarts' walls, and intends to disprove our common hatred of the muggleborns. I will leave the explanations to him when he arrives." He smirked, opening the pit op snakes and letting Potter walk right in to prove his worth, at least politically. If he couldn't hold his own against Tom's followers, he would be of very little use.

"What of the muggles, my Lord?"

It was Rabastan who had spoken now, his hatred and disdain for muggles known among their circle, as was Severus'.

"As much as I would enjoy seeing each and every one of them dead where they stand, it will not be possible to kill them. Their numbers are vastly larger than ours and they are unfortunately rather advanced in technology. However, as I have said, Potter will be the one to explain the fine points of his planning and ideas to us all once he arrives."

Voldemort smirked, knowing his Death Eaters could be rather ruthless in their beliefs, especially on their own territory. They would defend themselves tooth and nail verbally, as they would not be allowed to curse the boy. Still, it would be a delightfully amusing evening and it would help the lad realise he was no longer among the light. This was a battle, a war; not a children's playground.

They were all reluctant but relented nonetheless, knowing they could not go against their Lord, yet were all looking forward to the day the Potter boy would be presenting his little speech before the inner circle. It would be amusing to watch the boy squirm under their gazes alone. None of them even came close to believing Potter would be able to sway them. The Dark Lord was not one they could oppose, openly or not; the Potter boy however, was another matter entirely. None of them knew Harry was very aware of that fact and intended to be perfectly ready for them.

* * *

><p>Harry paced in his study. Only a few more days until he would be required to return to Privet Drive and those stupid muggles calling themselves his relatives. He was still stuck with the trace on his wand and they were very likely to take his school stuff away from him again. He intended to let Hedwig fly home without him and come find him later. He hated the fact he couldn't do any magic at home and honestly, he was beginning to wonder what was so special about those blood wards; he had nothing to fear from Voldemort now and they shared blood for Merlin's sake! Tom could easily pass through the wards.<p>

He was reluctant to go visit the headmaster as he did not trust the man anymore, but perhaps it would be useful to get Dumbledore to allow him refuge in the Black property. Even the Burrow would be better than going to the Dursleys. He would have too many chores to be able to focus on getting ready for the Death Eaters. He needed his arguments to be firm and undisputable if he wanted them to at least leave him alone.

He knew gaining their respect would be next to impossible for now. He needed to truly accomplish something before they could accept him. Harry's biggest problem with the Death Eaters was their sadistic tendencies though. He didn't know how he was going to keep them from attacking muggleborns out of pure habit or something. They needed to show they were willing to accept the new blood and revival of old families.

Of course, their loyalty would be to Harry Potter on the surface, but his alliance with Voldemort would lead them into merging with the Dark factions. Not that they would know that beforehand and when they agreed with his ideals enough, being merged with Voldemort's forces should go smoothly enough. At least in theory.

He shook his head. He needed to go to Grimmauld place, the tomes there were bound to be useful, especially since he couldn't take any from Hogwarts without the wards alerting the school. That wouldn't go down well at all. What he could do was take notes and use copying charms on the books that weren't spelled against it though.

With a sigh he excited his refuge and made his way to the headmaster's office. If there was any chance he could convince the man to let him stay there then he would take it.

Once he arrived at the gargoyle guarding the stairs he paused, trying to ban the thoughts of his plans from his head and focus only on the Dursleys and Grimmauld Place. It would either block the headmaster out or at least distract him from the thoughts below, hopefully.

"I need to see the headmaster." He simply stated; receiving a nod from the gargoyle before it jumped aside, allowing him to go up.

Once again the headmaster called him in before he even had the chance to knock. How in the blazes did he manage to do that every time? He didn't have the chance to glance around for spells or a portrait but he would figure it out later. It would be delightful to surprise the old coot for once.

"Hello headmaster." He greeted, sitting down when he was invited to do so.

"Are you alright Harry, my boy? It is unusual for you to visit." The man said, with his grandfatherly demeanour all out again, not that Harry was buying it though. Somehow the old man must've picked up on that little titbit because the twinkle in his eyes faded somewhat.

"Oh yes sir, I'm fine. I was just hoping I could speak to you about the Dursleys." The stern expression the headmaster adopted now wasn't entirely faked now, laced with concern, though it was most likely more for his own plans than for Harry.

"You know you must stay there in order to power the blood wards my boy, they are the only relatives you have, you should treat them as such." Harry barely managed to hold back his scowl and the headmaster picked up on it, much to Harry's dismay.

"I will hear no arguments Harry, my boy, we have gone over this and you will return to Privet Drive. Now, I suggest you return to your friends and spend some time with them, you have been awfully isolated lately and it cannot be good for you."

Harry sighed but complied with a quick "Very well headmaster," before returning to the Gryffindor common room for now. This was not going well at all; he couldn't afford Dumbledore figuring him out. Especially not this early in the game.

The night was spent quietly packing up everything he needed and copying parchments as well as possible. Perhaps he'd have to get his hands on a few muggle notebooks. Those were bound to be more practical than quills and parchment.

It wasn't until he was on the train that he began feeling odd…

It was almost impossible to concentrate on what his friends were saying, though the topic of their new faction was kept silent throughout the voyage. There was a buzz settling in his mind, making him squirm a little. Something was off but he couldn't figure out what. It almost felt like his magic was fighting hard against whatever was settling there. Was it something bad?

The train ride was filled with meaningless chatter, and by the end of it Harry honestly couldn't remember what had been bothering him. His magic felt slightly restless but he wrote it off to all the tension from what had happened at the ministry and his concern for his friends. He was reluctant to leave them for yet another summer yet it had to be done, he was supposed to charge the blood wards at home after all, and his instincts drove him to protect others.

Thus it was once again an obedient Harry who made his way to Dudley's second bedroom, hoping for the life of him that the Order threatening his uncle had not caused any damage. He was left alone for about half a week before he was called down by Vernon and was nearly startled by the vicious smirks his uncle and nephew were wearing.

"You didn't tell us that freakish, murdering godfather of yours was dead, boy..." He trailed off, his expression saying it all. He was no longer under Sirius' protection and therefor in for the beating of a lifetime, again. He took a small step back out of pure instinct, his magic lashing against his insides to fight back, but he wasn't allowed to do magic and he couldn't risk losing his wand; he had had enough warnings on the matter.

"Can't run now, freak!" Dudley said, his sneer almost worthy of a Malfoy, though nowhere near as intimidating as Snape's. Then again, better not mention that...

Harry groaned and pulled himself up on the bed, closing his eyes and fighting the nausea he was feeling. He was certain he had a broken wrist and leg, and a few ribs suffering the same fate, multiple large and smaller bruises littered all over his body and he was having trouble breathing. They really did a number on him and he was sure he would be sporting a very black eye tomorrow. He didn't dare move once he was lying on his bed, knowing that if he did, it would hurt even more. No doubt they would demand chores of him tomorrow as well...

He slipped slowly into oblivion, ignorant of his magic calling out for help or the fact that it was attempting to heal him. He did let out groans and yelps when the magic snapped his bones back into place but he didn't wake, his magic inducing a small coma so that he could heal. Having him wake up and thrash about before being properly healed would only damage him more.

* * *

><p>Things were becoming more and more strained at Malfoy manor where the Dark Lord was currently residing, making him quick to lash out in anger for the slightest mistakes. Something was wrong, <em>very<em> wrong. Tom could feel it gnawing at his insides, lightly tinged with Potter's magic, and after two weeks he had had enough of it. He refused to endure this unease and the complete lack of contact from that insufferable brat. He should have been in contact at least a week ago.

**"Lucius, Severus."** He commanded, holding his wand to the Dark Mark, knowing the two would be alerted to his summons.

"My Lord." The two said upon kneeling before their lord, both equally unsure of what their master wanted of them.

"The two of you will go to Privet Drive and retrieve Potter, this silence has been going on for far too long. Get him here _tonight_. Dismissed." The two were quick to leave. When their lord was in such an aggravated mood it was always best to ask no questions and do as you were told. Now, the two Death Eaters already knew that Potter had come to some agreement with their lord and that without nullification, the two could not repeat what had been said, so they assumed Voldemort only wished them to retrieve Potter for a meeting. Merlin knows the brat couldn't even get out of a muggle house by himself.

Once they arrived they found the security laughable and they easily entered and searched through the house while under disillusionment charms. Severus went to check the main bedrooms, assuming as always that the brat was being treated like a king in his home, yet it was Lucius who found him.

"Severus, over here."

To say they were shocked was the understatement of the century. The door had a cat flap and a multitude of locks, which they quickly disabled. It couldn't be that the boy lived in this prison-like room, could it? They found that this was indeed the case and were greeted by an alarmed hoot from Potter's owl while the boy himself looked to be unconscious on his bed.

Harry had endured another beating that same day thanks to his inability to work properly, due to his bruises and healing fractures, resulting in more bruises and fractures. Snape cursed under his breath and cast a quick diagnosis charm, his eyes wide when he found the malnutrition, badly healed breaks and fractures, the new breaks and fractures, not to mention all of the bruising.

"The Dark Lord is not going to like this..." He mumbled to himself, Lucius readily agreeing when he read the results.

"His family did this to him? It looks like Dumbledore has been keeping a few secrets about his Golden Boy." The blond mused, levitating the boy while Snape gathered his possessions, only to find his trunk and wand weren't even in the room.

They went downstairs to find his stuff had been put into the broom cupboard, also suspiciously equipped with a lock. Once the trunk was retrieved, they were once again startled to find the place looked like someone had lived in it. Severus let out a low growl, unable to believe that Lily's son had been put through this hell before realising that he himself had treated the boy terribly. It looked like he was going to have to swallow his pride on this one if he wanted to remedy his relationship with Lily's legacy, as he had not been able to do with her.

They apparated back to the manor and placed him in one of the guest rooms, Lucius instantly leaving to call his wife so she could watch over Harry and try to heal him at least a little. The two returned to report to their lord afterward. It wouldn't do to have Potter wake up in a foreign room all on his own; he'd panic...

"My Lord, we have bad news..." Severus began, cringing at the glare he received from Tom.

"We found the boy locked in a room with multiple locks and a cat flap, unconscious and beaten badly. According to a scan he has been suffering from bruises, fractures and broken bones for a long time, most of them scarcely healed by his own magic." Lucius continued, receiving an agreeing nod from Severus.

"I am baffled he even managed to pass through his Hogwarts years with the state he's in, let alone come out standing. His magic seems to have put him into some sort of self-induced coma until he is healed, Narcissa is with him now." He bowed his head, tense for the curse that was sure to come.

Tom was absolutely seething with rage. What in Salazar's name had happened to that stupid boy? He should have been able to outsmart them relatively easily; they were only muggles after all. He let out an angry hiss, cursing in parsletongue and sending a _crucio_ at both Severus and Lucius, far too angry to care for the moment. He released the curse fairly quickly though, much to his subordinates' relief.

"Take me to him." His words gave no leeway for discussion and he was quickly taken to the guest quarters where the female Malfoy was bowed over the boy, muttering to herself and taking potions from one of the house-elves.

She barely even noticed the three men enter the room, busy getting Harry to swallow some skele-gro and a few other potions.

"Narcissa how is he?" Tom asked, standing beside her, still irate but pushing it to the back of his mind. He didn't intend to lash out here, especially as the boy's injuries were so obvious. She had taken off his shirt to produce a better scan and to see what she was doing and it wasn't pretty.

"Not very well my Lord. My scans indicate this isn't the first time he's been in a coma like this, and by the looks of it the last one was barely a week ago." She took a bruise salve and began smearing it onto his wounds, hoping they would heal soon. "He will most likely not wake until tomorrow, his magic is keeping him asleep until it is safe for him to move around again."

"Will someone explain _why_ he was being abused by those _muggles?"_ He spat out the word with venom before rounding on Severus.

"You assured me he was being treated like a spoilt brat, what happened to that image Severus?" He hissed out the last letter, his anger more than apparent. The Potter boy was going to be more than useful and yet here he lay in a coma and completely useless until further notice.

"It is what I was told my Lord, that he was being treated well by his relatives and that he was perfectly safe." The potions master took a step back, realising Dumbledore had lied to them all, but why? What could possibly be his purpose in having the boy suffer like this?

"_Dumbledore_..." He received a nod from Snape, confirming his suspicion.

"Do whatever you must to give the illusion Potter is still there. He will spend the summer here until he needs to return to Hogwarts, he will be safer here and have the time to work on our projects." The two bowed and left, going to find a way to give the illusion Potter was still there without arousing suspicion from the Order or those filthy muggles, however much Severus would enjoy killing them. He did suppose the imperius was still an option...

The Dark Lord left Narcissa to her work a little while later, pacing in his office, trying to figure out why the old goat could possibly have been allowing those muggles to treat the boy as such. He didn't have any details yet but he would make sure Harry told him everything once he was awake, and if he must, he would take the information by force. Merlin knows he wouldn't share his own past without being forced to.

It was another four days before Harry finally awoke with a groan. He slowly became aware of both the dull aches in his body and what had happened to him.

"Shit..." He mumbled placing an arm over his eyes before realising the room was far less bright than the one he had in Privet Drive. But if he wasn't there... He bolted up instantly, only to moan in pain and fall back down.

"Note to self, don't do that..." He mumbled before the door opened and he cringed, expecting someone to yell at him; instead he heard a female voice ramble questions at him. He slowly opened his eyes to find none other than Mrs Malfoy kneeling beside his bed and fussing over him.

"What the hell?" Oh, he hadn't realised he said that aloud.

She smiled in understanding, which just came across as creepy to him.

"Don't worry Harry, you're safe here." She said gently, though he was still very wary of her. If she was here then there was a big chance that he was in Malfoy manor, and that meant the place was probably crawling with Death Eater scum. Oh shit.

"Let me go! Why am I here?" He exclaimed loudly, trying to sit up and leaning against the wall, searching manically for his wand, which really just was a sad sight to her.

"Please, calm down. The Dark Lord ordered you be brought here, as you haven't contacted him in the two weeks you were home. You apparently promised to send him an update on the projects you were working on."

Harry frowned at her in confusion. Sending letters to the Dark Lord, was she crazy?

"What the hell are you talking about; and let me out of here!" He was beginning to breathe more heavily, ignoring his magic, which was getting agitated due to his behaviour, as if they weren't in tune with each other. She sighed deeply at his behaviour and called an elf to her.

"Mippy, will you tell the Dark lord that our guest is awake?" The elf nodded and popped away to report, after which it barely took a minute for the door to slam open again and Harry quickly tried to get away, panic apparent in his eyes.

"Potter, we meet again." The Dark Lord drawled, actually relieved the boy was finally awake, though he was still feeling out of sorts, which was odd to him. Not to mention the boy's magic was all over the place, but almost as if it were trying to work against the boy. What was that all about?

"My Lord, it seems Harry has lost his memory. He doesn't appear to remember the arrangements you have made..." She said hesitantly, receiving a snappish reply from the younger.

"There's no way I'd ever strike a deal with _you_!" Harry exclaimed, before once again realising he lacked a wand. Tom sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Things never go according to plan, do they?" He mumbled to himself, earning a sympathetic smile from Narcissa as she stepped aside.

"It seems the old coot has decided to block your memory, which means you were foolish enough to forget that he is a master legilimens." Harry just pulled a 'What the fuck?' face at him, not understanding what was going on.

"I'm going to refresh your memory so sit still, this might hurt." Not giving the boy another chance to say anything he pointed his wand at him and cast _legilimens_, entering his mind and searching for the block that indicated an obliviate.

It took him a moment, as the memory had been vaguely replaced, although the job was sloppy at best. The memory was still covered in a white fog and Tom wasted no time in shredding the fake one away before getting to work on tearing off the block. He was barely aware of Potter screaming in pain but once he was done he was about to turn away when he noticed a few more of those white fogs, the tell-tale signs of an _obliviate_.

He retreated from the boy's mind and ordered Narcissa to give him a headache potion.

"That should have done the trick, I assume you remember now?" Harry groaned after having taken the potion.

"Why do these things always taste like shit?" He mused aloud before looking up and blinking.

"Tom, what am I doing here?" He drew a hand through his already messy hair, slowly remembering the deal they had struck and everything else but not able to pinpoint who had made him forget or why. Probably Dumbledore though...

A low growl escaped the Dark Lord's lips, causing Harry to smirk.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll call you Voldemort; bad habit, I get it." He rubbed his scar briefly, closing his eyes and leaning back. He received a noncommittal sound from the other before opening his eyes again.

"So, why am I here? Dumbledore had me dropped off back with those damnable muggles last I remember..." His eyes suddenly seemed to turn a shade darker in anger and he barely held back a snarl. "That fucking bastard... He sent them an owl, telling them Sirius died, knowing they'd take it out on me!"

If Tom hadn't been seeing red before, he was now and Harry knew it, if the pain in his scar was anything to go by.

"Severus and Lucius came to find you and brought you here Harry, that was four days ago." Narcissa said, hoping to get his mind off the muggles for a bit.

"What? Four days?" He groaned, closing his eyes. "Great, that's three weeks completely wasted..." He was not happy with his lack of progress, at all. That drew a small tinge of amusement from the Dark Lord.

"You find yourself in a temporary coma and the first thing you worry about is your work." He chuckled softly, a smirk playing on his lips.

Narcissa smiled as well, taking out vitamin and nutrient potions and offering it to Harry.

"Here, take these and rest a little while longer. You'll be staying here for the rest of the summer, we'll get this sorted out tomorrow." She said kindly, earning a small smile and nod from Harry in return. He wasn't all that opposed to sleeping now that Tom had restored his memory, though he would need to go through it in detail tomorrow.

It could wait...

He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.


	5. Among the Dark

**A/N: Hello everyone and welcome to Chapter 5! I'm sorry it took so long but after doing a rewrite of the last four episodes I was out of ideas again and I kept procrastinating while working on Hollow Inside instead. I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, faved and followed in the meantime, it's all much appreciated. **

**I hope it's worth the wait… **

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 5 - Among the Dark<p>

Tom was quick to call a meeting after what had happened, far from happy with what he had recognised as multiple memory charms. It looked like the old coot's meddling went a bit deeper than he had imagined. They needed to step in and get rid of the old man as quickly as possible, though if they did it could lead to a lot of uncomfortable situations. This was all moving far too quickly for comfort... He needed to break those blocks and retrieve those missing memories, get Potter back to health and start planning. The influence the boy has in the community and at Hogwarts is invaluable.

He had called his inner circle and made sure they were informed that Potter was in the manor and _not to be harmed under any circumstances_. Furthermore, he explained that the boy had been obliviated of their deal and multiple other things. Their orders were to check the protections of the objects that had been given to them and make sure no one could get to them. He would not allow the old coot access to his Horcruxes. He would also need Severus to do a careful job in removing all the blocks and obliviates from Harry before they went to Gringotts to determine if anything else about the boy had been messed with. Which reminded him...

"Bella, I want you to check in at Gringotts and push for the rights to the Black estate, if you aren't allowed, demand who the new lord or lady is meant to be." She accepted, obviously, and he pushed for a few others to check the settlements and train the recruits. They needed to stand strong and ready for the times that were to come.

He also commanded Greyback to claim some of the settlements for werewolf packs, especially his own. They needed those packs on their side, not to mention the ministry was going to continue backing them into a corner, if the legislation that Umbridge woman was pushing through was anything to go by.

Once everyone of importance had been told what to do and had been dismissed he returned to his throne, sighing. There was a lot of work to be done and Harry had been right to worry about it, although doing so right after regaining his memories was a little remarkable. The thought made him chuckle.

**"****Nagini my dear, I want you to guard the young speaker and make sure he stays out of harm's way. Can you do this for me?" **He asked as he spotted her presence within the room.

**"Of courssse Massster." **She hissed, drawing out the 's' as usual before bowing her head and going to check on Harry. It would be good to see the little hatchling again.

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><p>Harry slept peacefully that night, although his mind was plagued with a few blank spots in his memory and his inability to recover those fragments. Damn that old goat, how far did his meddling go? Hopefully Tom – ahem, Voldemort – would be able to help him.<p>

The following morning brought him the pleasant surprise of having Nagini curled up to his side. Apparently she liked him enough to spend the night so close to him, which was actually rather surprising.

She woke when he stirred and stretched, yawning as he attempted to clear the sleep from his system. **"Good morning, Nagini." **He said, falling back down on the bed and curling up a bit before wondering what time it was. Tom probably had wards that hid the magic use from those in the manor (how else could he cast unforgivables undetected? Surely they had a track on those…?) but he wasn't going to risk it and give Dumbledore and the Ministry a very good pinpoint of Voldemort's lair.

**"****Speaker."** She greeted in return, simply bobbing her head in a nod. She remained curled up at his side, finding the boy to be a fine heater. Perhaps she could ask her master if she could keep him? He was a talking heater after all and she was of the opinion her master was long overdue with a present for her.

As much as he would like to just lie down and continue this pleasant moment, he knew he had work to do and he would finally have all the resources here to do it. As he looked around, he found his trunk had been left at the end of his bed. **"Will you let me up? I have much work to do today."** He told her whilst stroking her scales. She hissed grumpily but removed her coils from him, immediately moving to soak up the warmth he had left on the mattress. He could have sworn he heard her hiss something about disobedient heaters...

As he figured this would be the room he was going to stay in, he opened his trunk, beginning to sift through everything. He was relieved to find his wand still firmly held by the small compartment on the side. As was becoming the norm, his uncle had forbidden him from keeping it during his stay with them. He was almost surprised they hadn't snapped it yet.

Once he found the copies of the tomes he had hidden safely in the compartment he had warded before leaving he realised Dumbledore didn't know exactly what he was up to, only that his precious weapon was starting to defect from him. That meant he had open ground to continue what he was doing, so long as he was careful. He hated that his memories were sealed and that the so-called leader of the light had the gall to try and control him like this, even Voldemort himself had never pulled such a blow.

"Huh, I wonder that the wizarding world would think if they found out…" He mumbled to himself as he unpacked the tomes. They would be safe here, without the need to hide them. And with that settled it was time to get cracking. He needed to find enough information on why exactly the purebloods despised muggles and muggleborns so much. Granted he didn't see muggles positively either but he didn't see it as a reason to exterminate them all, nor to cut off potential wizards and witches from their true roots: magic.

Almost as if a light bulb had lit above his head, his eyes lit up and his mouth stretched into a grin. Despite being surrounded by dark wizards and witches, he knew he couldn't go to them to figure these things out. That left only one person he could think of…

He grabbed some parchment, an ink pot and a quill before he started writing.

_Dear Draco Malfoy, _

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><p>With the things he had to deal with on a daily basis at Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy was not easily surprised or startled. Today easily took the cherry of all surprises though.<p>

The bane of his school time and all-around Gryffindor nemesis Harry Potter had written him a letter. Him!

Draco would never admit he had been interested in what the raven-haired boy had to say and why he would have written Draco out of all people. What he found surprised him even more. Harry Potter, poster boy of the light had written down some very dark-grey questions… Of course, seeing this opportunity for what it was, a chance to mend the discord sown in their first year, Draco reread the letter and began answering it in as much detail as he could. Though even so he needed to remain vague, he couldn't have anyone intercepting that letter and who knew where that idiot Potter was writing from.

After a few exchanged letters it was becoming obvious that Potter needed something more, an actual discussion face to face so he could get a more in-depth understanding of what was going on. In the end it was Harry who had come up with a rather efficient idea.

The next evening the snowy owl brought him his package, containing a note of how to use the object sent to him. It was a mirror, a two-way mirror Harry called it and all he had to do was call the other person's name.

When he did he was surprised to find the boy's environment rather dark, instead of the bright Gryffindor colours he was expecting, but he refrained to comment on it.

"I never did ask you Potter, why the sudden interest in the Dark and our cause?" He started without greeting the boy; there was no point.

He received a small chuckle for his troubles and huffed. Some nerve he had to simply laugh at a Malfoy like that for a perfectly reasonable question but when Harry answered, his miffed expression faded.

"It's simple, really. With the way things are going now I'll be stuck as Dumbledore's perfect little martyr weapon and I probably won't live past my seventeenth birthday. I decided to take things into my own hands and I'm breaking away now. I might not join the Dark completely or maybe I will, that depends on what I find and how things go, but I'm willing to learn as much as I can about both sides."

Draco raised a brow at the boy, surely he knew at least something, right? There was no way Potter was so clueless about their world.

Harry had obviously noticed Draco's expression and shook his head. "I'll let you in on a common misconception. I wasn't raised in a wizarding household and I wasn't pampered. Instead Dumbledore left me on the front step of my magic hating muggle relatives and I was basically treated the way you treated Dobby." He didn't like telling people about how he was treated by the Dursleys, not in such detail, but he knew the situation called for it and he was certain Draco wouldn't pity him. He hated being pitied like a helpless child.

"You were WHAT?!" Draco exclaimed in shock, his eyes wide and it was rather obvious the boy completely lost his composure. Despite how funny it looked, Harry didn't laugh and simply nodded.

"Yeah, nothing like those stupid rumours huh?" Draco nodded mutely before the scenery behind him started moving. Draco was pacing in frustration.

"Children, especially magical children are the most precious gifts of magic and they would never be treated like that in a magical house hold, not to mention being around muggles can cause damage like what happened to you and the lack of magic around you could have stunted your magical core. What Dumbledore did was unforgivable!"

Harry remembered Voldemort getting equally pissed off and smiled slightly. It seemed that while the light would attempt to coddle him yet ignore the fact he had to go back there every year, the dark would be genuinely angered by such a situation. It was perhaps slightly odd but also nice to feel so suddenly cared for, even though he knew they would act like this for every abused and abandoned magical child.

Shaking himself out of his reverie, he got Draco's attention again. "Getting back on topic though, you can see why I'm not too keen on the light. Not to mention they've apparently been obliviating me since I was a kid. If it wasn't for your dad and Snape I'd still be half-dead in Durzkaban right now, no thanks to Dumbledore. I don't trust Dumbledore anymore with what's been going on, that's why I turned to the dark for answers."

Draco nodded, mulling over Harry's words. He could tell there was a lot that had yet to be said but thanks to the mirrors they had all the time they needed.

They actually spent the entire night talking and Harry began trusting Draco more, telling him where he was and what he was planning, namely making a name for himself in the Death Eater circles and providing help and new ideas for the war. He was determined to survive this.

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><p>Meanwhile at Gringotts Bellatrix smirked as she found Hufflepuff's cup still safely stored in her vault. She added extra protections and a blood ward though, making it so that only she could touch the cup. Not even someone under polyjuice would be able to take it and using the imperius curse on her was nearly impossible. Once she was done with that she turned to the Goblin that had accompanied her.<p>

"I need to know who the next head black is going to be, she snarled at the creature. Used to her rudeness and human rudeness in general the goblin simply showed its teeth and lead her back to the cart and from there to the account manager offices. Greyhorn was the Black account manager, he would know who the next head was to be.

"Mrs Lestrange." The goblin acknowledged once she entered his office, hardly looking up at her as he sorted through a few files, catching the right ones he knew he would need for this meeting. "I assume you are here for the Lord Black's identity?" He asked, raising a brow at her and she found herself nodding as she sat down.

"Yes, by all accounts the title should pass on to Draco once he is of age, unless my idiotic cousin managed to change that… Well?" She pressed, nailing the goblin with a glare.

Greyhorn calmly opened a file and skimmed through it. "Indeed Mrs Lestrange, Sirius Black left a few days before his death a new Will to us, nominating his godson Harry Potter as the next lord Black."

She blinked before cackling. Oh this was perfect. With Potter sympathising with the Dark they could easily keep control of the black seats and use them to further the dark's cause. Yes, this was ideal.

"Why wasn't I informed of this will, goblin? All members of the house black should have been notified, regardless of their involvement in the Will." Again she glared at it, daring it to go against her.

"Because the Will was sealed before it could be read, Mrs Lestrange." It still replied calmly, wearing on her nerves.

"Well then, who did it? I have no time to waste here!" She snapped, earning a toothy grin from the goblin.

"Why, none other than Albus Dumbledore of course."

With a stiff nod she left the bank. She had important news to relay to her lord and staying here would solve nothing. Once she was out of the building she apparated away, hurrying to keep the memory fresh.

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><p><strong>AN: Alright, finally finished Chapter 5. Sure took me long enough… Unlike Hollow Inside I only have vague ideas for what to do with this and I've had quite a bit of trouble working that out, still haven't actually. So I'm really going bit by bit without really knowing what's coming. **

**Ideas and suggestions are always welcome and reviews fuel my writing fire! Let's hope I manage to update sooner next time...**

**Love, **  
><strong>~Lumina<strong>


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